Hanoi-Vietnam: Professional standards for primary school teachers

Children are the future of the nation; for the country to develop, today’s generation of children must be trained to become talented individuals. Children are likened to blank sheets of paper; if we want children to develop well, we must imprint these blank sheets with good and appropriate teachings. Who is the person who spends the most time with children? It is ultimately the teachers, for from early morning until late evening, they study, eat, and sleep at school.

Hence, teachers—those who teach and guide children in life—must be individuals with adequate political qualities, ethics, knowledge, and skills. The Ministry of Education and Training has issued regulations on primary school teacher professional standards according to Decision 14/2007/QD-BGDDT. Specifically, in terms of political qualities, ethics, and lifestyle, primary school teachers must:

- Comprehend political ideology with the responsibility of a citizen and an educator towards the task of building and defending the country. This regulation is demonstrated through the active participation of teachers in social activities, building and defending the homeland, helping fellow citizens in distress and hardship; loving the profession, being dedicated to the profession; being willing to overcome difficulties to complete educational tasks well;

- Set an example and take the lead in fully adhering to and complying with the policies of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the laws of the State for educating students on the awareness of legal compliance and maintaining public order and security; persuading family members to comply with the policies and laws of the State, as well as local regulations;

- Comply with the sectors’ regulations and rules, study and formulate solutions for implementation; contribute to building and seriously implementing the school's operational regulations; have a proper work attitude; complete assigned tasks; improve student management in teaching and educational activities; be punctual for classes, not arbitrarily skipping classes or teaching hours; take responsibility for the quality of teaching and education in the assigned class;

- Professional ethics are crucial. Teachers must have the moral integrity, personality, and a healthy, pure lifestyle of an educator; the spirit to fight against negative manifestations; the awareness of striving for career advancement; the trust of colleagues, students, and the community;

- Be honest in reporting teaching results, evaluating students, and cultivating a spirit of solidarity and work-sharing with colleagues. When assigned to teach, primary school teachers must be transparent and accountable for their teaching results and student evaluations, wholeheartedly teaching and educating students with love, fairness, and the responsibility of an educator. Promoting solidarity, knowing how to love, and sharing with colleagues in professional activities; Serving the people with a proper attitude, meeting the legitimate aspirations of student parents;

Particularly in pedagogical skills, primary school teachers must meet the following skills: (1) Preparing lesson plans; (2) Knowing how to prepare lesson plans with innovative approaches; (3) Organizing and conducting classroom activities that promote students’ dynamism and creativity; (4) Conducting class management; (5) Organizing extracurricular educational activities; (6) Implementing two-way communication in quality management of education; (7) Applying cultural and educational behavior in communication and interactions; (8) Effectively building, maintaining, and using educational and teaching records.

In addition to the pedagogical knowledge mentioned above, teachers must continually equip themselves with other knowledge to serve the education of children, such as:

- Knowledge of educational psychology and developmental psychology, primary education pedagogy;

- Knowledge of assessment and evaluation of students' learning and training results;

- General knowledge of politics, society, and humanities, knowledge relevant to information technology application, foreign languages, and ethnic languages;

- Local knowledge about the political, economic, cultural, and social tasks of the province, district, and commune where the teacher works.

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